The old police station which was being used for night court proceedings in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, ablaze after protesters reacted to the death of Andrew 'Bun Man' Hope. - IAN ALLEN
THE BULLET-RIDDLED, bloody face of One Order leader, Andrew Hope, popularly known as 'Bun Man,' was all residents needed to see to erupt into a violent rage in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, yesterday.
As rumours that he was murdered were confirmed and news spread across the old capital numerous roads were blocked, including French street, and Wellington street. This however, was just a mild taste of what was to erupt.
Police say that about 3:00 p.m., Hope was parked along Ellis Street, when unknown assailants came and shot him several times. He died on the spot. The residents angrily refuted the reports however, claiming that the killer was a police officer. One woman recalled the cries of an alleged eyewitness.
"Di woman bawl out seh she see when one white car pull up 'gainst Bun Man car an seh sometin...she seh Bun Man wind down him window, anstep out an point a gun right a di don head an leggo bear shot," said the angry resident of Ellerslie Pen, who travelled with a group of other residents to the scene.
Rumours soon spread that the woman who was said to be an eyewitness was threatened and beaten by police, an allegation strongly refuted by the lawmen.
Matters quickly intensified, as residents began to light vehicles and by about 3:30 p.m., smoke billowed from the old police station at 42 Young Street, signalling the start of a massive blaze that eventually burnt the entire compound to the ground.
"We could have saved the building, but we were met with resistance by residents who fired shots and threw stones at us, forcing us to retreat ... We were forced to retreat to the police station, which provided us support and allowed us to return and fight the blaze," said Assistant Superintendent of the St. Catherine Division Spanish Town fire station.
The blaze left one person dead, and two persons hospitalised and treated. Two buses, five cars and a police motorcycle were also destroyed in the fire.
Sporadic gunfire continued to 'ring out' across the city, allegedly from Tawes Pen, Shelter Rock, and Thompson Pen, among other places said to be aligned to the One Order Gang.
At approximately 5:35 p.m. attempts by the driver of a Coaster driver to pass a roadblock near the bridge on Burke road resulted in several shots being fired and two passengers shot in their feet.
"Mi coming from Kingston on the highway, when some passengers say dem going to Greendale ... Mi see a roadblock but cars were passing so mi pass to, an mi jus see some man run from di 'ol bridge an bus a shot pon di bus an fling stone," said Everton Johnson, the driver of the ill-fated bus.
The police also soon received the brunt of the residents' anger, as the service vehicle which was taking the injured persons to hospital was also fired upon. Despite the consensus of residents across Spanish Town, police maintain that they were not responsible for the death of 'Bun Man.'
"Bun Man neva wanted by police fi nutten, an him neva known as an aggressor, suh why police woulda shoot him?" said an officer on the crime scene in an attempt to calm irate residents that had congregated.
As a tense calm loomed over the Old Capital, members of the gang shared sentiments of their leader's killing.
"Unu tink seh Spanish Town did lock down when Bulbie dead? Nobody neva love Bulbie, dem did fraid a him. Bun Man a don whe love peace and life suh people love him ... Unu watch, di town a go mash up fi dis," were the threatening words of some men said to be aligned to the gang.
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